


Duty Is As Warm As Winter

by redcandle17



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - Martin
Genre: ASoIaF, Arranged Marriage, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-14
Updated: 2009-12-14
Packaged: 2017-10-04 10:41:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redcandle17/pseuds/redcandle17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Weeks after the death of her betrothed, duty compels Lady Catelyn Tully to wed his brother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Duty Is As Warm As Winter

The first time she saw him, he was there to marry her. The wedding had already been planned and it went ahead as scheduled with Eddard Stark taking his brother Brandon's place.

When she'd heard of Brandon's death, Catelyn was _uncertain_. She was sad, but it was a dutiful sort of grief since she had not known Brandon well enough to love him. She was mostly just unsure of what would happen now. She'd been betrothed to Brandon for five years; she had had clothes suitable for the Northern cold made and she had learned about the customs of the lands she would one day help her lord husband govern. She would have to learn new things and marry someone else. It was almost a relief when her father summoned her to his solar and told her that the Starks needed an alliance with them now more than ever and Ned Stark had written to say he would take her as his bride.

Catelyn was there beside Lord Hoster to greet their guests when they arrived at Riverrun. She looked at her husband-to-be only for the brief moment they were introduced, ever mindful that she was the lady of the castle and she needed to greet all of the guests and see to their comfort. Lord Eddard was seated beside her at the feast that night, but Catelyn's attention was on ensuring that the servants did their jobs well, that the food and drink was suitable for great lords, that her little brother Edmure minded his manners (and her sister Lysa, who should have been old enough not to need the sharp looks Catelyn had to give her). Oh, Cat knew her courtesies and she did not neglect to speak to Eddard, but they said nothing of consequence.

When her father and Jon Arryn left the hall for the quiet and privacy of the solar, Eddard did not go with them. He asked her if she would accompany him on stroll through the godswood and Catelyn had no reason to refuse him.

"My lady, I know your grief is fresh, as is my own, but will you consent to be my wife?"

It brought it a smile to Cat's lips. The marriage had already been agreed upon and the contract prepared, but it was nice of him to ask her for her hand. Eddard was not as tall as Brandon, nor as handsome. He did not smile and laugh as easily as Brandon had, and he lacked a certain something Brandon had possessed that had made her imagine their wedding night many times in the privacy of her own bed. But the differences were not all bad. Catelyn could not imagine Eddard recklessly rushing off to challenge the crown prince to a duel.

"It shall be my honor to be your lady wife, my lord."

When the septon bid Eddard to kiss her, Catelyn received his kiss without any spark of excitement. It was without passion; Cat could imagine him kissing his sister the same way. Brandon's stolen kisses in the godswood had made her heart pound, had made her want more. Even Petyr's kisses had been warmer when they'd played together as children. She might have suspected something then. She knew she was a beautiful woman. She wasn't vain, it was simply a fact. Men told her she was beautiful and she saw desire in their eyes when they looked at her, and admiration and envy in the eyes of women. She might have wondered then if Eddard's passion was reserved for another woman if she had not been preoccupied with her sister.

Lysa was deeply unhappy about marrying a man older than their father and Cat tried her best to comfort her. She pointed out that Lysa would be Lady of Eyrie now; that she would help her husband to rule one of the seven kingdoms. But it was only a reminder that she should look beautiful on her wedding day that stopped Lysa's crying. It was an ungracious thing to say, but Cat even tried to console her sister by suggesting that Lord Jon might die within a few years and Lysa would be regent for their children and she could marry a young, handsome lord then. That put a smile on her sister's face.

The wedding feast ended all too soon and it was time for the bedding. Catelyn forgot all about Lysa when the northern lords scooped her up and carried her to the bed chamber she would share with her new husband. Their drunken singing made her laugh despite her nervousness, even when one of them tore her gown in his haste to disrobe her. Those ladies from Houses sworn to Riverrun who had attended the wedding brought Eddard Stark to the bed and undressed him. Then everyone left and it was only the two of them. Her lady mother had died when Catelyn was too young for talk of men and marriage, and her septa was herself too ignorant of such matters to be of much help. However Cat had heard enough from friends who'd wed and from her maids. She knew what to expect.

She closed her eyes when Eddard kissed her. Again his kiss had no effect on her, so Catelyn called to mind his brother's kiss. It made her bolder. She had fantasized about this night, dreamt of it. She pretended the man with her was Brandon, as it should have been. They were married now, it was proper for her to return his kisses and touch him the way she'd never permitted herself to before.

Her lord husband was unfailing polite and dutiful for the fortnight he stayed at Riverrun. Cat admitted to herself that she was no warmer than he was. She did not know how to be anything but courteous and dutiful. Duty, it would seem, was a trait she and her husband shared. She embraced Eddard and gave him her blessing and sent him off to war to save his sister and avenge his brother and father. Warmth and laughter and love would come in time, she told herself. It had come for her parents and there was no reason it should not come for her.


End file.
